Cap for nipples



I 1952' R. A. BACHIA ETAL 2,607,345

CAP FOR NIPPILES Filed April 6, 1949 ATTORNEY nipple, and can be applied another form of the cap of our invention,

Patented Aug. 19, 1952 UNITED STATE Richard s PATENT"; OFFICE 2,607,345 CAP'FOR NIPPLES Q 4 A. Bacliia, Bay Shore, and Arthur 3 t I Hamilton, Larchmont, N. Y. i' Application April 6, 1949, Serial No. 85,858

. Claims.

This invention relates to sanitary caps for nursing bottle nipples. I

I-Ieretofore various devices have been used in hospitals, nurseries and homes to protect the contentsand nipplesof nursing bottles against contamination after sterilizing. Some are applied directly to the bottles themselves however, andwhile adequate to preserve the bottle contents against contamination up to the moment of use, they require that the nipples be applied to the bottles after sterilization and thus permit contamination by soil on the hands that handle the nipple. Others cover the nipple and may be applied before the bottle with its nipple in place is sterilized, but these are made of glass or aluminum; etc, and may be blown oh the bottle during sterilizing unless carefully-placed on the bottle, and in any event need washing between feedings.

The sanitary caps of the present invention avoid such difficulties. They cover the entire h before sterilization and thereby sterilized along with a bottle and its nipple. They can be made so inexpensively, e. g.,

of paper, that one can bediscarded after a single I use, and thus'washing of the caps avoided, although if desired" one may be used a number of times and may be made of a more permanent material than paper.

Also the construction can be such that the cap becomes attached to the nippled bottle by the mere act of thrusting the cap on to the nipple, and is such that a number of caps can be folded flat upon themselves so that a considerable number can be packed in a small package, and opened readily and readily thrust onto the nipples.

. More specifically, each cap has something of the form of an envelope-open at one end, and adjacent that end is provided with atleast one, and preferably two diametrically opposite internal flaps or tabs, adjacent its open end, and thence extending toward the closed end of the envelope, and which tend to unfold or project sufficiently toward the center line of the opened cap to engage the nipple of the bottle to latch the cap in place thereon.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the best forms of our invention of which we are now aware. Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a nursing bottle with its nipple and the preferred form of this invention mounted thereon and locked to the nipple in the preferred manner. Fig. 2 is a blank from which such a cap as that of Fig. 1 can be made.v Fig. 3 is an elevation of .a part and outwardly to of one wall being torn away toshow the tab on the opposite wall. Fig. 4 illustrates two blanks from which the cap of Fig. 3 can be made. Figs. 5 and ;6, also elevations partly in section, illustrate other relations that the tabs may assume with respect to nipples.

In the drawing, the bottle 10. is a-conventional nursing bottle and nipple H is a conventional nipple. The bottle has an annular bead l2 formed thereon at its mouth and the nipple has an annular groove formed therein to receive said annular bead to lockthe nipple in'place on the neck of the bottlei The nipple tip i la is relatively small in diameter and tapers downwardly form an. annular sloping shoulder Hb. Thev lower end of the nipple terminates abruptly .to form an annular shoulder llc. Usually the shoulder Hc falls at the lower end of the neck l3 of the bottle and in the general area where the neck tapers outwardly to form the bottle shoulder M.

The sanitary cap orhood invention shownin Fig. 1, may be made from a blank such as 30.0-f'Fig'. 2. Blank 30 has a pair of body portions 3| and 32, respectively, a pair of wings 33 and 34 respectively, and a pair of tabs 35 and 36 respectively. Each of the body 20 0f the form of the portions 3| and 32 is tapered and preferably truncated v.triangularly, withthe result that the upper end of. the cap is smaller than its lower end (cf..Fig. 3). Preferably thetab 35 is tapered also, and truncated, andits'small end is connected to the wide end of bodyportion 3i along the substantially straight line'3'l.v Preferably 3i and 35 are integral, and then 31' is a folding and hinging line. At least preferably the length of the attachment of 35 to 3| (1. e. the length of theline 31') is only a-,fracti0;n, say of the order of one-fifth of the length of that edge-of 3| to which 35 is attached.;, Body ;portion;32 is of substantially the samesizeand shape as the-body portion 3l, and its tab 36c0rresponds to tab 35. The substantially straight 1ine'38 is the connecting, and usually folding and hinging, line between 32 and 36-. The two body portions 3! and 32 are connected-together at-the folding line 39 which is parallel-to the lines 3'! and 38, and all three of these lines intersect the longitudinal axis of the blank at right angles thereto. Both of the wings 33 and 34 may be connected to one of the two side body portions, e. g., 32, along folding lines 40 and 4! respectively;

When the blank of Fig. 2 is folded to form a cap 20, tabs 35 and 36 are folded inwardly along the foldinglines 3'! and 38 respectively until, say,

. itself is made. The overlap. of :the wings on the 2;, 7 body portion -orv the fastening meansshould also they lie flat against the body portions 3! and 32 respectively. The body portions are then folded fiat upon each other along their common folding line, 39 in such a direction as to enclose the tabs between them. The tabs are not pressed to the 5 body portions along their fold lines 31 and 38 so hard that they tend to remain in contact with their respective body portions; it is sufficient that the tabs 35 and 35 be folded toward their body portions enough to permit them to be enclosed 19 between the two body portions 3| and 32 when the blank is folded along the line 39 and the taba tend to come into contact with or abut each other. The wings 33 and 34 are then folded towardeach other along folding lines 40 and 4| respectively, until they lie fiat upon foldedbodyportion 3i. An adhesive may be used to fasten said wings to said body portion 3| or other fastening means may be used for the same purpose, thus fastening the lateralxedgesiof the body portions together. Whatever fastening means is used however should be resistant to harmful or injurious effects resulting from exposure to heat and moisture, as of course, should the material out of which the blank 7 be adequate to prevent dust and 'other foreign matter 'in'the air from seeping through the cap and settling iipon the: nipple. A heat and moisture-proofinaterial and fastening member or means permit the cap: to be placed on the nippled bottle prior to the, time the bottle is placed in a steam bath for heating and sterilizing. purposes. Under such circumstances, the cap is sterilized at the same time and by the same means that-the 35 bottle and its nipple aresterilized. I

The modified'form of cap 50 (Fig. 4) is made from a pair of blanks "50a and 50b which, when joined, resemble blank'3ilv of Fig. 2. One 'of the blanks from which cap 50 is formed, e. g., blank 40 a, has a body portion52 corresponding to body portion 32 of blank 30 and a pair. of wings 53 and '54 corresponding generally to wings 33 and 34 of the blank'Sfl. Its tab 56 corresponds generally to tab 36 of blank 310 andthe foldingline 58 of. this 45 blank -5ila corresponds to folding linef3'9 which lies between body portions 3.! and 32- of blank 39. Line 59 is the folding line between tab '56 and its body portiontz and corresponds to line 38 in Fig. 2, and folding lines 'fifl and 6|, corresponding to folding lines Ml and dlfrespectively, are the folding lines between wings 5 3 and 54 and the body portion '52. On the other side of folding line 58 is a flaptfi which blank 30 does not have. Blank 58b has a body portion 5 I V corresponding g'enerally to body portion 31 of blank 30 and it has a tab 55 corresponding generallyto tab '35 of said blank 33. Line 511s the folding line between body portion 5! andtab 55 ofblank 50b.

Blanks 50a and 50b are folded and assembled 60 in the manner shown in Fig. 3. Tab 56 is folded toward the body portion 52, tab 55 is folded toward the body portion 54, and said body portions are then superimposed, oneupon the other, with their respective tabs between them. The wings 53 andb and flap are then foldedover upon body portion 5|, and an adhesive or other fastening means is used to fasten said wings and the flap 65 to the body portion 5| Figs. 3 and 4. illustrate another possible modification also. I-. e. while the tabs 35and 36 of cap 20 are of tapered form or have diverging side edges, the tabs '55 and 58' illustrate that they may be of other shapes, e. g., rectangles. As before indicated, preferably the length of each hinge 4 or connection of a tab to a body portion, is less than the length of the free end of the tabs. With tabsof non-tapered forms, e. g., tabs '55 and 56, this can be accomplished byslitting the material at the connections; e. g., by providing slits 5711 at the ends of folding line 57, between tab 55 and body portion 5! and slits 59a at the ends of folding line 59 between tab -5'6=a nd body portion 52.

It has been found thatfif after a number of caps as before described have been packed fiat, one is taken and squeezed between the fingers, bearing on the edges of the cap, e. 'g. on the fold lines 40 and il, the open end expands and accordingly the capT-can be thrust over a nipple easily. At the same time the tabs (35 and 36, and '55 and 56) tend to unfold and swing or bend toward each other and away from the body portions to which they are respectively connected. The free ends of the tabs are thereby brought into engageable positions with respect to the nipple. Preferably the proportions are such thatas the cap is thrust down to say the shoulder of the nursing bottle, the end of the tab or each tab passes beneath the lower end of the nipple as shown-in 1. Each tab then comprisessubstantially in eifecta pawl. swinging to and engaging the lower end of the nipple quite as a hingedpawl engages a tooth of a ratchet wheel. It is-not necessary, however, that t e an beso p artieneda hata ab t acts pawlwise, or if so proportioned that the cap be thrust down into contact with the bottleshoulder. Thus as shown in -Fig.5, for example, the end of a tab mayengagea projecting portion-of the nipple above the lower end of t e n ple. or may even indent. itself into the base portion of a nipple. Or instead of the end; of atab-engagingthe-nipple, a cap may be so proportioned, or may be soplaced on a nippled bottle that only the side of a tab engages, say below a bulbous part of the nipple, for example two opposing tabs then forming a pair of walls spaced from each other a distance less than the diameter of a lower portion of thernipple, and accordingly forming walls between which the nipple cannotbe-drawn Without; forcibly deforming the walls. Such a latter arrangement is shown in Fig. 6, it being, rememberedthat caps need to be held over-their nipples substantially only sufiiciently firmly to prevent; accidental dis placement. It will be understood that various dispositions of the tabs with. respect to'thenipple are sufficient to retain the caps in place;

It will be understood that the inventionisjnot limited to the details ofi'constru'c'tion and operation described above and shown in thedrawing except as appears hereiaaftes n the claims, and that the claims are-intendedito"include-not only the elements specifically-mentioned in thein, but the equivalents of those elemerits als'e.

1-. A sanitary cap; for nursery' bottle nipples comprising two body poitions'and at least-one nipple-engaging tab, the said; portibnsfand; ta-b being made of flexible-material, the-said two body portions being flat andcxc'ptfat thebbttom of 5 the cap being connected together, nethe said tab being flat and an integral eictension from thebottom edge ofone ofjs'aid twojbodyportions and being folded inwardlyfie a position bet'weei'i the-two body portions, thereby the'cap-being fold-- o able fljatand expanqib open position t pass overanipple. v g

2. The subject matter: of-claimil; characterized bythe fact that. each of -sai'd two body portions'is a trunca'ted triangleinrshape and the two body portions are connected together at their smaller ends, comprising the top of the cap, and at their lateral edges 3. The subject matter of claim 1, characterized by the fact that the fold line-0f the tab is a straight line at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of said cap when said cap is flat.

4. The subject matter of claim 1, characterized by the fact that such a tab is provided on each of said body portions.

5. The subject matter of claim 2, characterized by the fact that such a tab is provided on each of said body portions, the folding line of each tab is a, straight line at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of said cap when said cap is flat, and the bottom edge of each of said body portions is substantially a straight edge at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the respective body portion when said body portion is flat.

RICHARD A. BACHIA. ARTHUR R. HAMILTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 881,671 Ducker Mar. 10, 1908 1,425,532 Marr Aug. 15, 1922 1,448,094 Sorgan Mar. 13, 1923 1,524,010 Allen Jan. 27, 1925 1,649,580 Geisler Nov. 15, 1927 1,666,541 Reutter Apr. 17, 1928 1,716,262 Dishart June 4, 1929 1,749,313 Burtchaell Mar. 4, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 372,588 Great Britain May 12, 1932 

